


What You've Kept

by TheCopyMistress



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto)-centric, Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Gen, Healing, Sad Kids Are Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 14:41:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17706200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCopyMistress/pseuds/TheCopyMistress
Summary: After Kakashi doesn't come home, Team 7 goes to his apartment to pick up whatever pieces of him they can.





	What You've Kept

The metal tags around her neck weighed heavier than usual. They swung and clinked together as she bent over, placing the plant from the windowsill into the box at her feet. She grabbed the picture frame next to it without looking and put it face down at the bottom. Straightening, she surveyed the small room. 

It was immaculate as always. Clothes folded, put away in perfect form, organized by color. There were only two colors there, black and navy, but they never mixed. There was paper on the desk, stacked neatly next to a singular pen. Save for the shuriken comforter spread across the bed and tucked neatly under the mattress, there was no way of knowing this place was ever his. Glancing at the bedside table, she swiped the orange book there before heading out of the bedroom. 

Walking out into the living room, she threw it haphazardly to the boy slouched on the couch. “Here. You can keep this one.” 

Without moving from his position, he raised an arm and caught it. He flipped it over, taking in the worn cover and well loved pages. “You sure you don’t want it?”

She shook her head. “You haven’t picked up anything since we got here.”

“Not like he has much for us to keep,” came a voice from the kitchen. “Talk about being frugal. This is just sad.” The speaker came into view, one hand tucked in his pocket, the other grasping a plain white rice bowl.

“Shut up, Teme. It’s rude to speak ill of the dead in his own house.” 

“You’re one to talk, Dobe, you speak ill of everyone.”

“Shut up, both of you. Let’s just get out of here.” The girl balanced the box on a hip, clutching her tags with the other. “This place makes me queasy.”

The black-haired one set the bowl down and walked over, peering into her box. “That’s all you’re taking?”

She shrugged. “Like you said, there’s not much to take. Personal effects weren’t really his style.” 

He hummed in response, plucking the frame from the box and studying the picture. “Don’t you already have one of these? We all got a copy.”

“I figure I can take it on missions or something.” 

“Yeah, that— Hey. It’s thick.” He fiddled with the backing. The stand came away from the rest of the frame, revealing three folded pieces of paper hidden behind the photograph. They each had a name written on them, one for each of the people in the room. He handed them to their respective owners before taking a seat on the couch next to his friend and unfolding his paper.

The girl set the box down on the small dining table before joining them, straddling the armrest and tucking a foot under the blond one’s thigh. With shaking hands, she pulled the corners from each other, tugging the paper taut as she scanned the almost indecipherable writing scrawled on the page.

_ Dear Sakura, _

_ If you’ve found this, then you were probably cleaning out my apartment, which means that I went on a mission and didn’t come home. So I suppose that’s the first thing I have to apologize for.  _

_ The second apology I owe you is for never seeing your potential. I could make all sorts of excuses. That Sasuke needed me the most. That Naruto was a handful and therefore required the other half of my attention. But the truth is that I was negligent, as I often am. So I’m sorry. _

_ If you look in the back of my closet, you’ll find a copy of my ninkens’ summoning scroll. I want you to have it. They always liked you best. Bisuke likes to be scratched behind the ears, but Guruko prefers that spot just above his tail. Pakkun likes to be talked to, and please don’t forget to change Uhei’s bandages every week. He’ll get a rash if you don’t. Pakkun will probably remind you anyway. The rest of the boys are pretty low maintenance, so you shouldn’t have a problem with them.  _

_ Thank you for bringing a little grace and a lot of love to this team of misfit orphans. I’m dead now, so I can say these things. I hope I don’t see you soon. _

_ Kakashi _

She folded the paper in half, dropping her hands heavily into her lap. The tightening in her chest intensified as she stared down at it. Sighing, she ran her fingers through her hair before heaving herself up from the couch. Two pairs of eyes follow her as she strode back into the bedroom, opening the closet and retrieving the scroll from its hiding place. She unfurled it as she walked back to the living room, staring down at the names written there in dried blood. Deciding to talk to the pack later, she rolled it back up and threw it in her box. 

“His summons. I’m keeping his summons for him.” She offered in explanation. The pair on the couch nodded solemnly, and she could tell they were grateful for not having to have the job of explaining to the dogs that their master was gone. “Sasuke? What about you?” 

Instead of answering, Sasuke got up, using a knee to push the coffee table forward before kicking the rug aside and kneeling. He felt the floorboards for a moment before prying one up with a finger. He reached in and pulled out a stack of notebooks, thin, plain and black. “He left me these. Said there was information about my brother in here. From before…” 

The last member of the team clapped his friend on the shoulder sympathetically before standing. “Well, let’s get going. Sakura’s got a speech to prepare, and you look like you have a lot of reading to do.”

“Wait,” Sakura started, “but what did he leave you, Naruto?”

He hesitated, pursing his lips. From behind the couch cushions, Naruto pulled out a photo album, almost full. “I had actually found what he left me earlier. Apparently he went through a photography phase… These are pictures of my parents. Of the time he would spend with them…” Sakura clutched at tags resting on her chest, tears welling in the corners of her eyes. Naruto’s own looked equally dewy as he smiled sadly at her. “Sakura-chan, he gave me my family.”

A broken laugh escaped her lips. “Yeah, Naruto. He did.”

“He kept these from us. He had pieces of our families and he kept them from us.” The two turned their attention back to Sasuke, who was still kneeling on the floor, clutching the notebooks in white knuckles. 

“Sasuke…” Sakura’s heart reached for him, but he was retreating back into himself, away from the people that had tried so hard to be there for him.

“Hey, Teme. If there was anything Kakashi-sensei was known for, it was being late, right?” And just like that, Sasuke relaxed. 

They were all the same, really. A quartet that never seemed to play in unison, but rather with  syncopated rhythms that twisted and strengthened each melody. They understood each other, kept each other. Sakura realized that even with this loss, the broken piece still found a way to complete them.

She looked down at the tags around her neck and smiled, promising to always keep them close to her heart. 

__ Hatake Kakashi   
DOB: 15 September 65 AFE _   
_ __ ID: 493B4D86E

**Author's Note:**

> This was a little exercise that we have running in our Discord server where we have a few prompts we can work on a week. I blasted this one out in an hour and ended up really liking it, so I thought I'd share. Thank you for reading!


End file.
